A tweet from @threatpost that warned: “Twitter spam may become more context-aware” pointed me over to this article that had some interesting bits, like:
“Twitter malware and spam uses a pretty straightforward attack vector. You get a twitter message from an account (usually with an attractive female avatar) telling you that you’ll get something awesome if you click on the helpfully provided link. Most people don’t click, because they realize that if a hot chick sends you a link on twitter claiming you’ll win a free iPad, it’s probably not legit.”
The author goes on to predict that twitter spam will get a lot more sophisticated and targeted, and it will get harder and harder for people to determine who to trust and who’s a bot (speaking of bots) and who’s not a bot:
“Twitter link spam will get a lot more context aware in 2012 and it’s going to be difficult to make an eyeball determination whether someone you don’t know has sent you a link because they follow you and they think you will be interested in a topic, or they are just trying to spam you”
As a matter of fact, we get a lot of tweets from scantily clad fembots that try to make us click malicious links, so we built an app to deal with that. It’s called Unfurlr, and you’re free to use it too, whenever the fembots come knocking –> http://unfurlr.com (bookmark it now, because they will come knocking)
And here’s a little more background info about Unfurlr.
Interesting article with link checker to avoid twitter malware: http://t.co/awoypftJ
Dealing with tweets from scantily clad fembots? Unfurlr to the rescue! | http://t.co/9Db3enDt via @mailchimp
RT @MailChimp: MailChimp Blog | Dealing With Tweets From Scantily Clad Fembots http://t.co/ExRebds5
RT @MailChimp: MailChimp Blog | Dealing With Tweets From Scantily Clad Fembots http://t.co/66wzDg7x <– Looks very useful, check this out.
MailChimp Email Marketing Blog – Dealing with tweets from scantily clad fembots http://t.co/dZ7Mw7Kr
MailChimp Email Marketing Blog – Dealing with tweets from scantily clad fembots http://t.co/T6Wn7ANs via @zite
Dealing with tweets from scantily clad fembots http://t.co/ntBQgxhk
RT @dkurzius: Scantily clad fembots, meet Unfurlr: http://t.co/kF8fWNR7
Dealing with tweets from scantily clad fembots http://t.co/gD8KAQn4 via @mailchimp
Block tweets from scantily clad fembots http://t.co/uWOyYKie Woah! Thanks, @mailchimp!
A great post & service from @MailChimp, dealing with fembots http://t.co/51wHpILn
That awkward moment when you realise that you’ve been hacked.
Seriously though, Twitter need to get better at tackling this issue before the DM or mention is sent. Surely it wouldn’t take a great deal of logic to identify the culprits:
Has a high following number…check
Has a low followers number…check
Every tweet is a message or mention with a link…check
This would definitely nail the majority of the simple bots I deal with. Of course there are some extremely sophisticated bots that can totally get past those checks, but that’s always the case when you talk about abuse prevention, right? Always a way around it for someone who’s determined. But still. Yeah. Seems like the simple ones could be dealt with.
A bot or not a bot … that is the question.
Whether ’tis I to follow and suffer
The tweets and spamming of misfortune,
Or to take arms with Unfurlr,
And by uploading end them? Bot to die: I to tweet :)
bit.ly’s Chrome extension (http://labs.bitly.com/) is showing full URL’s (with included some click stats too) on Twitter web interface.
Actually, an extension such as bit.ly’s may be done for unfurlr.
That, and more, are definitely in our plans. Thanks for the bitly tip!